Dilemma

Plumbing Issues

2008-04-09T07:26:47-05:00

So I’m in the shower, and on the way to hot, the faucet falls off in my hand. Literally. I ring the super, who can fix anything and looks like Schneider (it’s like our own One Day at a Time around here at the highrise), but he’s not available. It’s all fun and games ’til you have to venture out into the big, bad world and find a fix yourself. It’s a small part inside the faucet that requires replacement, something—as I learn at Home Depot—they don’t sell separately. “You may have to open the wall,” says the helpful Depot-er. And who makes this fixture anyway? I remodeled the bath, and think it’s Groehe, but there’s no signage, number…nada. The contractor has no record. (Note to self: write this stuff down and keep a file long after the project is complete!). I head to Community Home Supply. The “question desk” is full of crack professionals who are stumped. (Great place to order bath accoutrements by the way.) They send me home to take a snap of the part that remains in the wall. I return. They think they discover a discontinued model that matches. Then, out from the secret and sacred files, comes The Card. I’m directed to the Godfather of all parts, The Faucet Shoppe. One step inside the store and Norman Miller, third generation “shoppe” keeper, has found the part (in an opened and thus discounted box to boot) for $40! His warehouse is filled to the rafters with replacement parts from toilet covers to vintage fixtures. May not seem like a sexy stop on the interior decorating tour, but for me, it’s heaven!

– BARRI LEINER

To Paint or Not to Paint Wood Moldings?

2008-03-31T07:34:42-05:00

My husband and I have been shopping for a new house for months and if we ever find a home that we both agree upon and that we can actually afford, it will be a miracle. Here’s one issue. While we both want a vintage place, we are divided on our preferences for original wood trim (husband likes; I don’t). All the real estate ads make a big deal about “original woodwork,” and I when I arrive at these places I feel the weight of history pressing on me the second I walk through the door. If I buy this place, am I morally obligated to carry on this torch of originality? In wanting to paint the woodwork white, am I as evil as all those developers who destroy old buildings to put up hideous new construction?

I turned to two interior designers, Laura Soskin and Jessica Lagrange, to get their two cents. Both were adamant: Paint it white! “Just because that’s how they used to do it doesn’t mean that’s how it should stay,” said Soskin. “White is modern—your house doesn’t have to look like grandma’s!” Lagrange added, “Many times, the wood itself is nothing special—just stained pine.” That made me feel better. Now I just have to find the house.

—GINA BAZER

Living room photo from Jameson Realty.
Soskin’s home photographed by Nathan Kirkman.

Merging and Purging

2008-03-25T03:54:18-05:00

My new husband and his son recently moved into my house, which meant some rearranging and merging of furnishings. So far, good. We decided that my coffee table, a gorgeous expandable, slatted walnut piece from my parents’ home in the 1960s, would look better as a bench against the wall in our entrance. So now we hunt a coffee table. There’s way too much wood in our home—a 1920s bungalow with quarter-sawn oak molding and oak shutters. So more wood is out of the question. Molded plastic is too modern. Glass-topped on thin legs would be fine. I love this Kagan one from Pegboard Modern, but it still might be too much wood. I had a wild idea that the Link sidetable from CB2 would look good. My husband is not convinced.

—JAN PARR